Rarely did Jose Mourinho stray from his study in humility on Monday but for
fans seeking one emphatic assurance, it came.

Chelsea’s new manager, “The Happy One”, is still, he said with that wicked smile, “The Special One”.

The nickname that has defined Mourinho’s career was coined by the Portuguese on the day he first arrived as Chelsea manager in 2004 after he bridled at suggestions he may not be able to cut it in the Premier League.

But is he still The Special One? Is his ego still sky-high? “Of course it is,” Mourinho answered. “I’m very confident. But, at the same time, I’m more stable, more mature. If I was a proud guy because of what I did before that, now I’ve done more: I’ve been at Inter, Madrid, won titles.”

Having won the Champions League with Porto, Mourinho expected a champion’s reception nine years ago, and was taken aback. “You pushed me, asking me if I was good enough for England,” he said on Monday.

There is no doubt on that score now as Mourinho returns to Chelsea from Real Madrid armed with a four-year contract and a surprising mantra of “stability”, Monday’s buzzword.

Despite his glossy, implausible claims on Monday, Mourinho’s separation from Chelsea in September 2007 was acrimonious but he said that he was now exactly “where I want to be”. He said: “You tell me every job in the football world at this table, I would choose my job. So... I have the job I want to have.”

But did not Manchester United and Manchester City demur at his advances and decide to appoint David Moyes and Manuel Pellegrini respectively? “I don’t know,” Mourinho said. “They’ve made good decisions. Good decisions.”

What about the fact that at Chelsea he was clearly second choice to Bayern Munich-bound Pep Guardiola? “I didn’t ask him [Roman Abramovich], I don’t know and I don’t care,” was Mourinho’s curt reply. “Really. Roman never asked me if I had contact with other clubs, so I never asked him.”

In those intervening years in Italy and Spain there has been “total envy”, Mourinho said, of the “competitiveness” of the Premier League. There was a swipe, in particular, at the two-horse race that is La Liga.

“I think English football is the mother country of football,” he said. “No doubt about that. I think the competitiveness is very, very high. I don’t enjoy too much winning 6-0.

"I don’t enjoy too much to play a league where you know you are playing against another team and you know that this is about 90 points, 92 points, 96 points, 100 points, 100 goals, 120 goals, 110 goals... If you make a little mistake and you lose a match, you are in big trouble because your direct opponent doesn’t lose any matches.

“The number of points Barcelona got last season, finishing second, they’d win every league with this number of points [91]. The same thing with Real this season [85 – although Bayern won the Bundesliga with 91, Manchester United the Premier League with 89]. It’s a two-horse race, really. That makes a big difference for English football.”

The challenge at Chelsea in 2013 is different from a decade ago, when the team were mature and had to win.

Now Mourinho has to find an “identity” for a new, younger team – a word that should set alarm bells ringing in his head because Carlo Ancelotti was charged with the same task by Abramovich when he was appointed in 2009 only to be ditched after one trophyless season. So much for stability.

But Mourinho – now 50 and the ultimate trophy-hunter – is adamant he will survive even if Chelsea do not win a trophy next season, as long as the team show an “evolution”.

“I don’t need anybody to push me,” he declared. “I’ve enough motivation and self-esteem myself, enough desire to do it. But if we don’t do it but show an evolution in the season, show we’re moving in the right direction, I think we’ll be champions in the second season.

“I don’t think it’s a drama. It has to be analysed in the proper way, part of a process of formation, that 75 per cent of the guys will be better next season... When you have this profile, you can’t think the best will come next year. It has to come in two, three, four, five, six years’ time. I’d expect to be here to win it in that second season. Of course.”

That would require a change of philosophy at Chelsea – as well as within Mourinho – but maybe his previous success at the club gives him a greater chance than all those who succeeded him? Maybe he has already bought time?

There will not be, he stated, a significant upheaval of the squad. “It would be easier if we did that, but we don’t want to do that,” Mourinho said. “You need stability for identity, and I think identity becomes more important in football.

“If Chelsea bought lots of young players, those players need to be developed. That evolution can be by being on loan, a natural evolution, but another thing is the evolution within the club.

“You need stability in methods, in philosophy within the club. With FFP [Financial Fair Play], and Chelsea wants to go in that direction, you also need stability. You cannot change manager and philosophy every few years. For me, as a manager, it’s something I want to experience. It’s a different situation, but it’s something I want to live.

“I haven’t changed my nature, and I won’t accept development without trying to win. Ever. It’s more difficult to keep trying to win and trying to be successful, while at the same time developing young players while giving an identity to the team. It’s more difficult. But it’s something I want at this stage of my career. Titles I have. Money I have. I need challenges.

“Nothing motivates me more than challenges. I’m not worried that I’ve got 21 cups now, or that I have one more pound than I had. I have 15 years in my career still – 20 is too much, 10 is not enough. It’s about changing the club. I think so. And the club thinks so, too.”